Elman, Mischa

VIOLINIST (UKRAINE)
BORN 20 Jan 1891, Talnoye (near Kiev) - DIED 5 Apr 1967, New York City, New York
BIRTH NAME Elman, Mikhail Saulovich
CAUSE OF DEATH heart failure
GRAVE LOCATION Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: Westchester Hills Cemetery, 400 Saw Mill River Road

Son of a Jewish folk musician. He showed talent from an early age and studied at the Imperial Academy of Music in Odessa. When he was eleven years old he auditioned for Leopold Auer and Auer auer admitted him to the Conservatory in St. Petersburg.

Auer arranged for him to play with Édouard Colonne's orchestra, but Colonne didn't like playing with children and flatly refused to perform when he saw that Auer had brought him a child. Elman played with only the accompaniment of the piano and the orchestra listened.

In 1904 he was an immediate sensation when he debuted in Berlin and in 1905 he first performed in London. Carnegie Hall in New York followed in 1908. the family moved to the USA and in 1923 he became an American citizen. In 1925 he married Helen Frances Katten from San Francisco. They had a daughter and a son.

He played all over the world and made recordings from 1906 until his death. He was often accompanied by Emmanuel Bay. Elman died in 1967. Helen died in 1994 and was buried beside him.

Images

The grave of Misja Elman at Westchester Hills Cemetery, Hastings-on-Hudson.
Picture by Androom (13 Apr 2010)

 

Sources
Mischa Elman - Wikipedia


Elmas, Stephan

Published: 24 Oct 2010
Last update: 25 Feb 2022